Florida Tech’s Fiftieth Anniversary to See Historic Building Boom

March 2008

Florida Institute of Technology will spend much of its 50th anniversary celebrating to the sounds of saws and hammers as the campus undergoes nearly $75 million worth of new construction. The boom, the largest construction undertaking in the university’s history, will add nearly 200,000 square feet of space to the campus—an increase of 20 percent.

At the heart of the new construction will be the South Village, located on the southern end of campus. This village will include three new five-story residence halls (1), a 20,000-square-foot autism research and treatment center (2), an Olympic-sized swimming pool and integrated diving well (3), a new dining hall (4) and the new 24,000-square-foot Harris Center for Science and Engineering (5). Not lost on current students is one other aspect of the South Village—a 392-space parking garage (6).

Florida Tech President Anthony J. Catanese, whose background is in urban planning, said the South Village project reflects the concept of New Urbanism.

“The whole idea is, we’ll actually have a living, breathing, village here that’s very accessible to the whole community,” said Catanese. “The concept encourages walking, but the addition of a parking deck shows we’re not anti-automobile. We just hope they stay in their spaces while students, faculty and staff are on campus.”

Other projects under way include the College of Aeronautics’ Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Training and Research at the Melbourne International Airport [picture omitted] and the Ruth Funk Textile Gallery, to be located in the heart of campus.